Land & Water create Thames liquid highway

Saturday, January 5, 2019 - 06:02

Investment in Thames-side marine logistics centre to support infrastructure projects in and around London

CIVIL and environmental engineering company Land & Water have recently invested in a £500,000 dredging campaign to increase the capacity of their Thames-side marine logistics centre at Coldharbour Lane, in Rainham, Essex.

As an integral part of their master plan, Land & Water have also purchased Coldharbour Lane Jetty, a new facility that has achieved full planning permission to act as a marine logistics centre to support major infrastructure projects along the Thames Estuary.

The wharf, which has three fully operational shipping berths, will handle waste spoils from construction works and allow them to be shipped to the company’s adjacent habitat creation site at Rainham Marshes. The hub will also act as a transport node for materials and products to be shipped on to barges for onward distribution into London.

James Maclean, chief executive officer of Land & Water, commented: ‘I am convinced that innovative logistics solutions will unlock future supply chains into London as the days of diesel-fuelled heavy trucks delivering commodities into the capital are numbered.

‘Our sustainable hub at Rainham offers the ideal solution, taking advantage of our close proximity to the A13 and M25 trunk roads, linking them directly to water transport, and unlocking the river Thames as a liquid highway.

‘We hope our hub will be able to feed a fleet of electric distribution vehicles deep inside the city, which will have a positive long-term effect on the environment, and ease congestion.’

The new facility will save 86 articulated lorry movements into and out of the capital for every 1,200-tonne barge that leaves the hub. It also provides Land & Water with a major operational foothold on the Thames, allowing the company to offer credible logistics solutions to clients in the London basin.

Mr Maclean continued: ‘This long-term, cost-effective solution has already attracted three separate businesses to trade with Land & Water at the facility. We hope many more will come to use this strategic asset, located just inside the M25 on the banks of the river Thames.’